Tentacle-Free Anime: "Psycho-Pass" Season 1 & 2 (2012 / 2014)

I'm not going to talk politics with ya'll, but with the elections going on this time of year, we always see a paradigm shift in a government that effects the very society we all live in. It is up to us to decide whether we want to improve our society or let it go to ruin. With no real way of learning what's to come, many series often explore utopian and dystopian futures alike and give us a glimpse into another possible future that we can actively choose to embrace or prevent. And today we discuss one such series, and with a movie on the way here in the U.S.A. I felt the time was especially ripe...

Summary: The series takes place in the near future, when it is possible to instantaneously measure and quantify a person's state of mind and personality. This information is recorded and processed, and the term "Psycho-Pass" in the anime's title refers to a standard used to measure an individual's being. The story centers around the "enforcement officer" Shinya Kōgami, who is tasked with managing crime in such a world. [Season 1 Summary, AnimeNewsNetwork.com]​​Having learned the true nature of the Sibyl System, Akane Tsunemori chose to obey the system, believing in both humanity and the legal order. She's part of a new police section and spends her everyday life facing down criminals. Unbeknownst to Akane, however, a monster who will shake the system to its core is about to appear before her. [Season 2 Summary, AnimeNewsNetwork.com]

To be perfectly honest, I'm not really sure why it took me so long to watch this anime. I had always heard only good things about it and yet it just never seemed appealing to me. However, with Psycho-Pass: The Movie hitting theaters in the U.S. this Tuesday and me already having my ticket to go see it, I figured it was about time to check it out.

And boy am I so glad I did. I was incredibly impressed with how this series treated its characters, its world, and the situations they find themselves in. I can now see why so many people like this series and I can't disagree with any of them. Psycho-Pass is really effin' good.

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All that stuff about politics is something I realized later on when discussing the series with my friends, but I do feel it is very apt to think about when watching a show like this that explores indepthly what the world can become when you decide not to fight back and carve out the society you want to live in.

It's to Psycho-Pass' credit then – and Gen Urobuchi who wrote this series by the way – that there is so much detail and history placed within this society where a single entity known as the Sibyl System controls everything through a series of retinues called the Psycho-Pass. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you are constantly being monitored by your Psycho-Pass and the Sibyl System. If your “hue” as it also called goes above a certain stress level you can be determined a “latent criminal” and subdued or even executed on the spot.

It's a scary thought, sure, but it's not far off from something we face with the world we live in now. With ever-growing technology, increased security and cameras in places where you'd least expect them. Increased acts of foreign terrorism and domestic shootings (namely in schools). You have to ask yourself, at what point does the Government decide to go so gung-ho on keeping this world balanced and happy that you can be deemed a future criminal simply because you've become too stressed with your life? Which can then lead to therapy, indefinite detention, or even on-the-spot execution by the police? As all of these things are explored in this series.

It's fascinating to think about, but none of it is completely out of the realm of possibility. We get our first look-see into this world through the eyes of Akane Tsunemori who's a young fresh detective thrust head first into her first – very real – assignment of a highly stressed latent criminal who's taken a woman as a hostage. She's pretty oblivious to the criminal world that exists underfoot in this society as most people are. It's not until you become a detective that you really get to see this world for what lies underneath.​

Akane Tsunemori must make a hard decision

What happens to those who commit crimes or whom become too stressed out? Because in this series, criminals are not the only people subdued or executed but also victims of terrible, terrible actions who are flat passed their breaking point. They personally haven't done anything wrong, but the system has equally judged them worthy of execution because there may be no turning back for these people once their minds have broken. It's this very thing that is also explored in the very first story arc as to set-up the pros and cons to the Sibyl System and let you decide if it's a system worth upholding.

Personally, I found myself leaning heavily against the Sibyl System. Interestingly enough, by the end of both seasons of Pycho-Pass Tsunemori chooses to protect Sibyl even after finding out the gruesome truth behind what the system really is. And it's not because she agrees with Sibyl, but because she sees no alternative that is better than Sibyl. There is nothing better that can immediately arise from the ashes if Sibyl is destroyed, even though it is quite the flawed system. And though both seasons see Tsunemori being inexplicably tested and even scarred by Sibyl, I do find it interesting that her sense of justice is so concrete that until something better can present itself, she will protect Sibyl until her dying day.

Both seasons of Pycho-Pass focus more solely on exploiting the Sibyl System and its rarely seen weak points. And both seasons deal more openly with villains who are invisible to the system, those who can't be judged because they simply can't be broken. No matter the good, no matter the evil they do, their mind and hearts are clear. Although season 2 takes a variant path with the idea, but I don't want to ruin it.

There's really a lot about this series I don't want to ruin as both seasons depend heavily on the unveiling of mysteries. It's a crime series after all with the spirit of CSI but better written and more of a long-form narrative than just each episode being a one-off. Everything does connect. Though not all mysteries are completely worth the wait, this is mostly true in season 2, the strength of the characters does lend the show a huge crutch to lean on. And not a bad one either as you have to have engrossing characters to lead you through any world worth sticking around for.

I've talked about Akane Tsunemori, but what about her entourage?

Kogami will administer justice by any means necessary

​Shinya Kōgami is the first person we need to talk about. An ex-detective turned latent criminal seeks to carry out justice best he can with the tightened leash that's been placed upon him by the system. He is an enforcer, someone whom therapy couldn't fix, but isn't so terrible that he should be executed. And yet has been tasked with working for detectives on the police force to bring down other latent criminals. Kogami is the most interesting character of season 1 and acts as a secondary main character.

What makes him interesting is his unwavering desire for justice and his resolve to administer it any way that he deems necessary. Either through his Dominator – we'll get to those – or through using other lethal and less technological means. He is the anti-thesis to Tsunemori, even if he is a good guy just like her. And the two of them see this and it is a very interesting dichotomy to watch the two work side-by-side while being so different and yet so similar.

Other characters include Shougo Makishima who is a surprisingly and welcomingly ruthless villain. As well as Kirito Kamui from season 2 who may or may not be worse. There's Nobuchika Ginoza a fellow detective who is by-the-book in his way of conducting business but we really get to see why that is and honestly I find him to be a pretty tragic character. To be fair every single character in series from hero to villain is tragic in some way, shape or form.

Makishima is a ruthless and fascinating villain

​Shuusei Kagari and Yayoi Kunizuka are other enforcers whom help Tsunemori solve her cases. Kagari is one of the more interesting characters of the series which, is really interesting to me because when originally watching the show I didn't see that coming. And Kunizuka I like, but unfortunately her backstory isn't as interesting as all the others. It never felt like Gen put a lot of thought into what made her as she is now, so what we get is cool but not fascinating. Which is a real shame.

There are plenty of other characters I am failing to mention, but I could easily sit here and just talk about all of them and I've gotta get this show on the road.

One of the more interesting aspects of the show is the Dominator. A handheld firing arm used by Detectives and Enforcers which syncs with each of their brains and communicates to the user whether or not the latent criminal's hue is at a certain number to just subdue them or to execute them. So if your gun tells you this person is not fit to remain alive, it dons this awesome transformation sequence and you fire a bolt of energy that literally explodes the target from the inside out.

If it tells you to just subdue them, you fire a light beam that just knocks them out. It's connected to the Sibyl System's mainframe and thus the commands come straight from Sibyl itself. However, using a gun to administer the command is quite intriguing in its own right, because it does eliminate having any extra baggage other than just your weapon to administer justice.

The animation quality on this series is superb. Everything feels rather crisp and clean and the characters and their designs are mature and tough looking. This show truly feels like the 80s/90s cyberpunk shows we anime fans of those eras grew up with. The series itself is very mature and it covers all manners of truly dark and twisted and bloody facets.​

You get to see people exploding from the inside out, women being raped and dogs being stabbed to death. Riots that are outright violent and destructive. A criminal who cuts up the bodies of their victims and makes public art pieces out of them. A criminal who hunts other humans for sport with an old-fashioned double-barrel shotgun. And all manner of things. None of these are good things that happen, but the show is not afraid to shy away from danger and its bloody effects. Hell, an old lady gets beaten to death and there's nothing you the viewer can do about it.

Psycho-Pass does a really good job at making you feel helpless and yet feel fascinated by what you're seeing. It also helps that in this day and age, seeing stuff like that on screen is almost unheard of now. This isn't the wild west of entertainment anymore and so, for a show like Psycho-Pass to exist now is impressive in and of itself.

This series isn't perfect, but it comes pretty close. There are some ideas put forth that can go over some people's heads, but this series is also a thinking show so I feel that's okay. And season 2, while absolutely great, is lesser than season 1 in its execution and overall answers to its mysteries. Also season 1 is a complete story while season 2 does feel slightly unfinished, just because of certain character's actions and the show's failure to make them pay for those actions.

With a movie about to hit, this gives them a chance to rectify some of that and I for one cannot wait to see what comes next for Tsunemori and her gang.

If you like truly mature stories with smart writing, great characters, fulfilled mysteries and even quite a bit of blood, then I highly recommend that you watch Psycho-Pass. All 33 episodes. It's also a really good series to open up discussion about real world problems we're facing today. Especially if you are good at talking about different kinds of political systems and their pros and cons, This will have you talking as well.

There's definitely a reason this series won best title of the year in the 2013 Newtype anime awards and was nominated for the Seiun Award (or Nebula Award) which, in Japan, is the best science fiction series for the preceding year it was nominated for.

Finally, the soundtrack is super kick-ass and I love all the different openings and endings given to this series throughout its run. Specifically I recommend checking out 'All Alone With You' by EGOIST. The music video to that is also completely and exceptionally animated.

So yeah, go watch Psycho-Pass. I feel like a latent criminal myself for having waited so long to watch it. And I am definitely excited to see the movie tomorrow, so expect a review for that as well soon enough.

Final Score: 4.5 Cloudy Hues out of 5

Have you checked out "Psycho-Pass? Or are you a latent viewer?? Let us know below!